Parity versus Ignorance

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Why are hard decisions hard? According to the incomparabilists, hard choices are hard because the options cannot be compared. Proponents of parity hold that hard choices are hard because the options can be compared but only in terms of a fourth value relation - parity - in addition to the three standard relations: better, worse, and equally good. Others claim that hard choices are hard because it is vague (or indeterminate) how the options relate in terms of the three standard relations. Lastly, there is the epistemicist. For the epistemicist, hard choices are hard because one is irresolvably ignorant about how the options compare. In the debate about hard choices, epistemicism is often mentioned but rarely defended. The present paper is a contribution to closing this gap.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1183–1204
Number of pages22
JournalThe Philosophical Quarterly
Volume73
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85171899400
ORCID /0000-0002-9962-2074/work/173987736

Keywords

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards